112. Adam’s Wild Tongue

112. Adam’s Wild Tongue

Paul sighed, rubbing his forehead. ‘How am I meant to explain this?’ He threw Lanban and his wife a look, and the pair’s eyes fell to Jonn, who straightened up. The pair of Iyrmen led Jonn away to a place where his Half Elvish ears couldn’t pick up on what was about to be said.

Adam noted how they were removing witnesses from the situation, and he raised his brow to Paul.

“How did you know?” the Vice Master asked. “I am certain no one from the Adventurer’s Guild leaked anything.”

“How did I know what?” Adam asked.

“How did you know that they were here?”

“Ah, well...” Adam scratched his chin. “Fate? I didn’t expect to meet these four, actually. Well, I expected to meet Rojer and Redboulder, but I also expected to meet a Lady Sansant and Ylra.”

The two women blinked rapidly towards him, their eyes full of even more confusion.

Paul cleared his throat, feeling his ears turn red. “Why are you here to meet them?”

“To save the Princess, of course,” Adam said.

Paul hid his face in his hand, and the four stared at the Half Elf in disbelief. They exchanged looks between one another, trying to figure out if they should kill the Half Elf or not, but Paul hadn’t given any indications yet.

“How did you know about the Princess?” the woman in breastplate asked. She was even more shocked because they hadn’t confirmed the Princess’ existence to the Adventurer’s Guild.

“Fate, like I said,” Adam said. “Is she safe?” Adam turned to Rojer.

The four quickly shifted around, with Rojer in the back, and the Dwarf and the woman upfront, the Archer behind with her bow out.

“You can’t expect me to believe that,” the woman said.

“I don’t care whether you believe it, miss,” Adam said, rolling his eyes. “It was Fate. However, things do seem to be different. There should be a Lady Sansant, Ylra, who always fights with Redboulder, and Rojer, who carries the Merman Princess.”

The four stared at Adam, their hearts pounding wildly. He even knew the race of the Princess?

“How did you know that?”

Adam smiled. “Fate. You’ve got a cursed Princess on your hands, I believe she’s been cursed for about a year, or so? Either way, you want to cure her by finding Goldarb, and you’re going to head up to meet with the Giants to speak about an old alliance.” Adam paused. “Or perhaps you aren’t.”

The four remained staring at the Half Elf before them. They realised how futile it would be to kill this young man, since he probably was someone out of their reach.

“How do you know about the meeting with the Giants?” the woman asked. ‘The Princess and the Meeting? It wasn’t the Adventurer’s Guild, then, perhaps it was someone from back home?’

“Well, that doesn’t matter,” Adam said, waving his hand casually. “Vandra is dead so it should be safe for you now. I’m going to take my share of the loot, alright?” Adam smiled, before turning on his heel and quickly rushing over to the Dragon, rubbing along the scales to try and find the best.

The four turned to look at Paul.

Paul stared at Adam, his eyes narrowed, his face full of sickness. It was Paperwork Sickness, a sickness which usually affected the Vice Masters of the Adventurer’s Guild.

“Hey, I’m taking the heart too,” Adam called.

“You cannot!” the woman snapped quickly. “Excuse me,” she said, clearing her throat. “We thank you for your assistance, but we cannot allow you to take the heart.”

“Hey,” Adam said. “I saved your lives and you won’t even let me take the heart of the Dragon? How greedy!”

“We need the heart to save the Princess,” the woman replied. “You may take everything else but the heart.”

“Oh,” he said. “I needed the heart...” Adam sighed. “I get everything else?”

“Yes,” the woman said.

“You’ve put me in quite the awkward spot, but since it’s to save the little one’s life, I’ll let it go.” Adam rubbed his head. “I guess we’ll split the rest of this bad boy in quarters then.”

The other Half Elf stared at Adam.

“What? You want some too?” Adam narrowed his eyes.

“Right, sorry,” Adam said. “Yes. I beat them.”

“That is true.”

“During the journey, since Red Oak, there was someone else who joined the party, and I will ask this. Was it they who drew their blade against me first, or was it I who drew my blade against them first?”

“You speak of Sir Dorian?” Paul asked.

“I wasn’t going to mention names, but since you have, Vice Master Paul, yes, that is the one who I speak about. Was it he who drew his blade against me first?”

“Yes.”

“So it was he who disrupted the group cohesion which had already been established?”

“If that is what constitutes disrupting the group cohesion,” Paul said.

“I would say so, since I’m sure whatever I did wasn’t quite as bad as drawing my blade against someone of the group upon hearing their race.” Adam smiled. “Right. Now who was it that wished to bring Sir Dorian?”

“It was Sir Harvey.”

“Did I warn Sir Harvey about bringing Sir Dorian with us? That we shouldn’t bring him along?”

“That is correct.”

“Again, who was it that brought Sir Dorian again?”

“Sir Harvey.”

“This is pure sophistry!” Sir Harvey said.

“Now, now, Sir Harvey. You may have your time to speak after we establish the facts of the matter,” Adam said. “It’s good to speak of the truth before it is distorted. So, we have established that Sir Harvey brought along someone who, within moments of meeting me, drew their blade against me, a member of his group since the beginning, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Good, good, I was just making sure that those were the facts,” Adam said, smiling. “Does Sir Harvey believe I have spoken a lie?”

“No,” Sir Harvey said. “Though you haven’t mentioned how you aggravated Sir Dorian during the evening meal.”

“Oh, I am ever so glad you mentioned that,” Adam said, perhaps a little too excitedly. “Actually, I was waiting for it, because that was a trap.” Adam winked. “So, Sir Harvey says that I aggravated Sir Dorian during the evening meal. Right?”

“Yes,” Paul said.

“Now, it is quite interesting to me that Sir Harvey, who is a respectable High Alchemist of Red Oak, is not going to mention that it was Sir Dorian started aggravating me first. If I recall correctly, and perhaps I will not, in which case I will speak to Jurot, whose memory is far better than my own, that Sir Dorian mentioned that the presence of two Half Elves was an ill omen, or a bad omen, or something of the sorts as we settled for camp.” Adam smiled. “Do you remember this, Jurot? Or perhaps Sir Dorian, are you willing to admit to that?”

“I remember,” Jurot said.

“How is that aggravating?” Sir Dorian said.

“Do you admit to it?”

“I am certain I said something along the lines of those words, yes,” Sir Dorian said. “Two Half Elves are an ill omen, and we came across a Dragon some days later, did we not? How can it be aggravating if it’s true?”

Adam smiled. “I just wanted to confirm that, but thank you for mentioning the Dragon, we’ll get to that in a moment. So, Vice Master Paul, we have established that Sir Harvey is blaming me about the disruption to group cohesion when Sir Dorian started it both times.”

“What of the dragon?” Sir Harvey said.

“Oh, yes, the dragon!” Adam said, clapping his hands together. “Do you hear that?” Adam turned to the four who were friendly with him in his previous life. “He said that I fled away while there was a Dragon which threatened him!”

Adam’s laughter began to fill the forest, and for a moment, it turned into howling as the heat filled his head, and for a moment the thought about drawing his blade to attack Sir Harvey crossed his mind, before he inhaled deeply, cutting his laughter short, and sighed.

“I now know why they call you High Alchemist,” Adam said, “’cause you're smoking some good fucking shit.”

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Adam has snapped.